Students live in a friendly and caring community which is committed to their safety and welfare. Students receive outstanding Health &
Well-being support specifically designed for dancers.

We are proud to be a world class centre of excellence for the training and education of classical ballet dancers where graduating students are prepared to secure contracts with national and international ballet companies. Teachers come from successful professional dance backgrounds and teach with passion and commitment.

A student-focussed learning experience maximises each student’s potential in learning, living and dancing skills. The positive learning environment and high expectations prepare our graduates for life in the very best national and international ballet companies.

Elmhurst in Association with Birmingham Royal Ballet is a world renowned centre of excellence for the training and education of ballet dancers. Students are equipped with the skills, resilience and creativity to succeed and make a difference in the professional dance world and beyond.

Lower School Dance

Throughout the five-year course of study in the Lower School the intensity and expectation of achievement increases year by year. However, the main aim endorsed by the Artistic Director and all staff is to nurture the love and passion for dance in all students, and encourage and develop the freedom and exhilaration of movement aligned with the principals of classical ballet technique.

The emphasis of this course is to provide students, through intensive and dedicated training, the opportunity to lay the groundwork to become exceptional classical dancers. Students are assessed at regular intervals. The assessment procedure is clear and fair. Assessment policies and procedures are available to all students.

Graduate dance students today, as well as being beautiful classical dancers, have to be versatile and be able to meet the extraordinary demands placed on them by the diverse repertoire and choreography of all major classical ballet companies. For this reason Elmhurst students train in many allied dance styles principally including contemporary and jazz.

Throughout their training students are given performance opportunities in the school’s productions in its own specially designed theatre and other venues. Lower School students may, from time to time, be selected by Birmingham Royal Ballet to appear in their productions at Birmingham Hippodrome and on national tours.

All Lower School students are encouraged to enter for the annual Choreographic Competition the finals of which are performed to an invited audience in our Elmhurst’s own theatre. Year 11 students are coached to enter the school’s Solo Competition. Upon completion of the fifth year of training students have an automatic audition entry, if they so wish, into the Upper School course.